Field
Embodiments of the disclosure generally relate to a trailer utilized in a fracturing operation (also known as a “manifold trailer”) having a single high pressure output manifold.
Description of the Related Art
Hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, is the process of injecting a fluid into a wellbore at a high pressure in order to fracture rock formations to facilitate release of trapped hydrocarbons within the formation. Fracking operations typically use manifold trailers having a piping system attached thereon that provides pressurized fluids to a wellhead at the surface. A low pressure side of the piping system receives fluids from a tank at a low pressure which is routed to a plurality of pumps where the fluid is pressurized to a high pressure (e.g., up to about 20,000 pounds per square inch). The pumps return the pressurized fluid to a high pressure side of the piping system that routes the pressurized fluid to the wellhead.
Conventional manifold trailers include multiple high pressure piping systems that have multiple discharge points. Rigging up a conventional manifold trailer requires the operators to assemble high pressure flowline iron (e.g. piping components such as tubular connectors, tubular swivel connectors, valves, flanges, and piping joints (also known as “pup” joints)) between the manifold trailer and the pumps that couples with other piping preinstalled in parallel along the length of the manifold trailer. The high pressure flowline iron is stacked horizontally and vertically on the manifold trailer to form multiple discrete manifolds while staying within the width of the manifold trailer. The stacking of the multiple discrete manifolds requires tight tolerances to be maintained. In addition, high pressure fluid flowing through the high pressure flowline iron causes the piping components to expand, which may cause binding and/or failure of one or more of the connections between the piping components. Further, the high pressure fluid flowing through the high pressure flowline iron may pulsate, which causes vibrations that may induce cracks or failures in one or more of the connections between piping components and/or the piping components themselves. Finally, in the case of a component replacement, rig-up time and complexity is increased significantly due to the numerous connections and stacked tolerances that have to be addressed between the various piping components of the high pressure flowline iron.
Therefore, there exists a need for a new and/or improved manifold trailer.